MedicineComputer vision

MahmoodLab UNI / UNI 2

A foundation model for histology slides: turns patches of digital slides into features for tissue classification. Does not replace a doctor; decisions are made by a specialist.

Developer
Mahmood Lab (Mass General Brigham, Harvard), USA
First release
Mar 2024
Latest release
Jan 2025
Sizes
about 300M (UNI) – about 680M (UNI2-h)
License
Non-commercial onlyCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0, academic research only; commercial companies — on request to the authors
Running
On your own serverNeeds a GPU
Industries
Healthcare, Science and research

What it does

  • Research classifiers of tissue types from digital slides
  • Finding similar cases in a slide archive
  • Preparing features for research prognosis models

Where it is used

Clinic research departmentsPathology research labs

Hardware requirements

LaptopLaptop or regular PC, up to 8 GB of VRAM — smaller versions
fits
1 GPUOne GPU with 16–80 GB — mid-size versions
fits
ClusterServer with several GPUs — flagship versions
no versions

Versions

  1. UNI 2 (UNI2-h)
  2. UNI

How to run it

On your own serverWeights are downloaded from Hugging Face and served with vLLM (load and API) or llama.cpp (modest hardware). The model then runs in a closed network with no per-request fees.Hugging Face
How much hardware you needCalculate the VRAM for the model size, context length and number of concurrent requests.Open the hardware calculator

I can set this up end to end: pick the model size, deploy it on your server and connect it to your systems.

Frequently asked questions

Can MahmoodLab UNI / UNI 2 be used in a commercial project?

No. License: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0, academic research only; commercial companies — on request to the authors. A commercial product needs a different model or a separate agreement with the rights holder.

What hardware does MahmoodLab UNI / UNI 2 need?

At minimum: Laptop or regular PC, up to 8 GB of VRAM — smaller versions. Without a GPU the model is not practical. You can calculate the exact VRAM for your model size and context in the hardware calculator.

Does MahmoodLab UNI / UNI 2 support Russian?

Language does not matter for this model: it does not work with text.

Where can I download MahmoodLab UNI / UNI 2 and what does it cost?

The MahmoodLab UNI / UNI 2 weights are open and free to download. You only pay for the hardware it runs on and for the setup. Source links are at the bottom of this page.

How I deploy it for clients

  1. SelectionI pick the model size for your task and hardware and test it on your examples.
  2. DeploymentI deploy it on your server or in a closed network and provide an API.
  3. Fine-tuningI fine-tune it on your data (LoRA) or connect a knowledge base — whichever is cheaper for the task.
  4. IntegrationI connect it to your CRM, ERP, bot, website or team chat and set up monitoring.

Similar models

Source: huggingface.co/MahmoodLab/UNI2-h. Data checked against the model card on 22 Sep 2026. Have a lawyer review the license before commercial launch.